


Magical Adventures

by Silvex



Category: Magical Vacation (Video Games)
Genre: Albeit Loosely, Alternate Universe - Canon, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ancient Mage Heroine, And Less Valid Theories, And Some Bits Just For Fun, Based on the Fan Translation, Both Eras Have Same MC, Egg Characters Have Personalities, Headcanon, Light Mage Heroine, Multi, it's complicated - Freeform, very loosely
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-06
Updated: 2018-10-07
Packaged: 2018-10-15 20:31:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 12,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10557268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silvex/pseuds/Silvex
Summary: This is the story of a student at Will-O-Wisp Academy on Kovomaka. Specifically, this is about the adventures of a girl who, despite her obsession with books, has no clue what she's doing, at least at first.And her friends all rely on her to lead them, for one reason or another. Probably not the best idea.Yes, adventures, plural. At least the second time, she knows what she's doing. Of course, the trade off is having to deal with new people that have no clue what they are doing, and a secret that has been kept from her for what they say is her own good, but when you can- and have- vaporize a building, that's really kind of subjective.





	1. Chapter 1

_ This story… where do I begin? Do I even want to? It was so long ago now… but it’s best not forgotten, isn’t it? That people can learn from the mistakes of the past… _

_ I’d like to distance myself from this story, if you don’t mind. It makes the telling easier. Of course, I’ll only tell you things at the time when I learned them, because otherwise, it makes no sense. If you want a comprehensive, personal, omniscient account, you’re asking the wrong person. Try the robot. _

_ I’ll stick with comprehensive. Of course, if you want to know everything about me and my friends, all of the adventures I’ve ever gone on, then the beginning isn’t actually the best place to start. Let’s go back a little, to a small village on Kovomaka, where there lived a girl who could speak to spirits… _

 

* * *

 

At ten years old, Clair Tempora was, as any master of magic could tell you, extraordinary. While she was still too young to form any true bonds with any spirits, she still spoke to them like a friend. The fact that she spoke to them at all at such an age was extraordinary, as several adults never got to see them, increasing their magical powers from other sources, such as the stars.

Certainly, nobody in her village could see them, let alone speak to them or gain power from them. And this scared them, more than any of them would particularly care to admit. The girl had no parents, having been left outside the village when she was young, and with the magical talents she was sure to possess… they feared her. Other children were not permitted to speak with her.

Clair didn’t mind this all that much, as she had the spirits to talk to, and the pot just outside the village was fairly decent company. If she wasn’t reading a book, talking to the spirits, or chasing gummy frogs, however, she was trying to use magic.

Due to her youth, she wasn’t making much progress, but that didn’t bother her. Nobody in her village could use magic at all, so there wasn’t anybody to compare herself to. She didn’t even know her main element yet.

The day that changed, she wasn’t sure if it was the best or worst day of her life. She had been chasing a gummy frog right through the middle of town, an unusually fast specimen that she wouldn’t have bothered with if she hadn’t been just about out of food supplies. Rather frustrated, she did the first thing she could think of to make it stop. She conjured a nail and threw it at the frog.

It hit, and now Clair had a green frog in her possession. She also knew that she could use the Ancient Magic of the Earlies, some of the spirits with the longest relationships with mortals, the only ones exceeding such being the Inkies of darkness and the Holies of light.

Of course, not everyone could be as overjoyed as her about her gift. The small village was, after all, populated by the few on the magic planet that had no such abilities, and despite how normal it was elsewhere, they were understandably worried about being attacked by powers they did not know.

The mob was a nice touch, if a bit much, Clair decided, as she was unceremoniously thrown out of the village following her exile. More than a little afraid, she turned to take her next steps on the path of her life.

* * *

  
  


Several months later saw a small town some distance away get a rather odd visitor. Children did not generally travel without their parents, and most certainly did not have an Early hovering over their shoulders. This one did.

Her clothes were somewhat dirty, with an odd hat stuffed awkwardly onto her tangled hair. She carried a bag that contained a rather impressive amount of gummies and coins, along with two books, one of them on basic magic, and the other on the history of the kingdom for which the planet was named.

Neither of them were very advanced books, but when your method of survival depends on whatever you find lying around, you take what you can get. Her entrance to the town wasn’t all that noteworthy, asides from the fact that she was arguing with the Early that was following her.

“You don’t have to hang around all the time. I’m sure there’s another spirit who’d be willing to keep an eye on me. And I can trade by myself.”

“After the mess you created in Nutley? I’m surprised you didn’t get arrested!”

“Nobody can prove I broke those machines.”

“You were the only Ancient Mage within five towns, at least. Maybe even the only one on the planet. I certainly haven’t been summoned in a while.”

“Maybe they’re just friends with other Earlies. You told me it’s a bad idea to Call randomly.”

“Yes, especially since you don’t have the power for a proper Call yet.” The spirit gave Clair its equivalent of a disapproving look, and she had the decency to look sheepish. The incident in Nutley had most certainly been her fault, as she had forgotten the inherent dangers in interfacing unfamiliar technology with her magic.

That didn’t mean that the spirit that had lived in the town had to follow her around everywhere, though. She understood its reasoning, but she most certainly did not like it.

First, she stopped at a nearby stall, where she traded a number of coins for Bira. She also sold a few worms, as she had no need for magic regeneration and they were taking up valuable space. The frogs would still be useful, if not for trading later, then for healing herself the next time she accidentally intruded on an Atomic Firebat nest.

That had only happened the once, when she was small, but it had been painful, and she’d prefer to avoid a repeat of the long recovery in any way possible. She didn’t know any Love Mages, and as untrained as she was, moving at the wrong pace could simply attract more monsters, so she had to play it safe.

She quickly purchased another bag, to carry more belongings, and some more clothes, generally in the same style as her current outfit. They were comfortable and easy to move around in, which was all she really asked for. She also bought some simple foods that she could eat on the road, as gummies tended to not taste so good after six to eight weeks.

It was a shame she didn’t have the magical strength to fight monsters properly yet, and get Bira from them, but she had enough to get by.

“Let’s see… Either I can have a hot meal and bed at an inn… or I could buy another book. What do you think?” She asked the Early.

“You haven’t had enough for a proper meal for three towns. This is a good opportunity,” her spirit friend advised, and she nodded.

“Sounds good.” Of course, had the spirit not been there, most likely she would have gone for the book. But good food was hard for someone with her lifestyle to come by, so she didn’t need that much convincing.

Behind her, someone she didn’t see chuckled softly. “Yes, she might do nicely. Even if we have to send her his way…”

It would be a long time before Clair realized what that person meant. It was even longer before she understood the connection between those words and her presence at the school she would be attending six months later. Will-O-Wisp Academy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, the framing device for this story is Clair telling it... much later. About 823 years from the start point, give or take a bit. Her name is based on eclairs and temporal, although it being spelled like tempura makes her fit into the universe just a bit better.  
> The incident in Nutley? Let's just say she's probably not welcome back there.  
> And the person behind the voice was Enigma-possessed. Basically, with her amount of power, it's important it get trained properly before any Enigmas attempt to fuse with her. They don't want anything to go wrong with the process, not when they're so close.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clair's early magical education isn't the most dangerous thing in the world. That isn't to say it's not interesting. She even makes a few friends, mishaps involving terrible aim aside.

Clair’s days as a student at Will-O-Wisp Academy were never boring, certainly. The school wasn’t a deathtrap or anything, but there was always something to do, even on those days when classes weren’t in session and a majority of the students had stayed home.

Days like her first arrival, actually. She had been ushered to her new room, which was where she was meant to live until she finished her education, whenever that happened. It wasn’t a very furnished place, but she was there to study, so personal comforts took a backseat.

Not that she cared. Her plan was to make her home in the library. Everything else came second. She didn’t know what else she could do, anyway. She didn’t think she’d be any good at making friends.

She was pleasantly surprised to find out otherwise. It was disproven the very day she first arrived, in fact, while most students were out for summer break. She had put away her few belongings and was now ready to explore, if only to figure out where everything was.

The first other student she spotted was the only other one that didn’t have a place to stay outside the academy. In fact, at the moment, the two of them were the only ones on campus.

Clair didn’t know what she had expected out of the rest of the student body. Aside from salamanders, just about every type of being out there could use magic. She did know, however, that ancient robots were definitely not on her list of expectations. Although, she supposed, with magic, just about anything could happen. It was easy to forget that, growing up in a village half full of salamanders. Now, she doubted she’d ever be able to again.

And she knew better than to expect anything anymore. She’d caused quite a few incidents that way, although nobody had died… yet, anyway. She wasn’t going to hold out hope for the future just yet, until she made sure that her classmates all possessed some amount of intelligence.

“Hello. You must be another student.”

“That is correct. I am designated as Cafe au Lait.” Clair pursed her lips.

“That’s a bit of a mouthful, isn’t it? I need something shorter to call you by. How about Latte?”

“That would be acceptable.” It most likely wasn’t the conventional way to start a friendship, but Clair never had been much of one for social norms. As it turned out, neither was Latte.

Admittedly, that wasn’t entirely his fault, due to the fact that he’d spent most of his existence either deactivated or broken, and didn’t actually know what social norms were. Not that he’d actually tell anyone that. It was more a general observation by just about anybody that’s ever met him.

Either way, now Latte had somebody who understood how machines worked well enough to actually fix him properly, rather than treating the job like a jigsaw puzzle, and Clair had someone to talk to whenever the librarian, Mrs. Tart, decided she’d spent too much time in there and kicked her out to get some sun. It happened more often than one might think.

 

* * *

  
  


A few weeks later, after taking the time to properly study magic- more specifically, the combat elements of it- Clair had upgraded her main conjuration from a nail to a screw. Blunt force was nice, but taking the effort to give it a point and a proper spin did wonders for aerodynamics.

Of course, none of that really mattered, given that while she had many talents, precisely throwing small objects was not one of them. Ancient Magic was one of the more physical types of magic, meaning that it was, unfortunately, bound to follow such laws as gravity.

She’d tried practicing with darts, once, but accidentally hit Cabernet Cheaptrick with one. While he was behind her. Throwing small, sharp objects in a straight line really wasn’t her strong suit.

Eventually, Sesame Ashpot, who was just as tired of being accidentally hit with darts, screws, and nails as everybody else in the school, suggested she conjure something to do the throwing for her. Which took another month of practice and research to get even a functional mini-model working, which still couldn’t throw things very far.

But at least it could aim. That was progress.

 

* * *

 

If there was one thing Clair knew about herself and her classmates, it was that they were considered a rather talented young group of mages. The fact that they had at least one person studying each type of spirit-based magic except for light made it difficult to compare how all of the students were doing, with the exception of Clair and Latte, who made a habit of studying together and had rather similar skillsets to begin with.

Of course, it was also said that, to be a talented mage, one had to have a few quirks. Sesame, for example, kept bringing bugs to class, which Cabernet would generally proceed to feed to his frog friends if he could.

Clair wondered at times about her teacher, Miss Madeleine, and what her quirk could possibly be. It hadn’t, at the time, occurred to her that it could simply have been the acclaimed Dark Magic user’s closet geekiness, because she just didn’t see anything strange about it.

Of course, being the one who spent so much time reading that Mrs. Tart had outright said she wasn’t welcome back in the library until she had, at the very least, a slight tan, she really didn’t have any room to talk. And perhaps her friends had tried to point it out to her once… or twice… or several more times, but it took a while for it to get through to her. At which point she no longer looked borderline vampiric and could go back to her books.

So, for the most part, her early education in magic was simple. Maybe there were a few stumbling blocks, but for a while, it went without anything truly dangerous, wayward darts aside.

 

* * *

  
  


Then summer camp was announced and it all went downhill from there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, her aim really was that terrible back then. That's why she has a machine to do it.  
> Also, some of the narration can be taken as Clair regretting past actions, or simply realizing how dumb she used to be.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clair comes to the realization that the other students at the academy are all varying levels of insane... more than is usual for a mage, anyway. But summer camp's about to start, and she is tasked with enjoying it.  
> Maybe if she weren't stuck with these lunatics...

The day that summer camp was to start dawned bright and early, like most mornings in that part of Kovomaka, barring when users of dark and water magic collaborated, which was much more common than one might think. The morning continued to be pleasant, and although the time had been designated as free, two students were in the meditation room training.

“Did you try changing the settings to a different element?” Clair suggested, looking up from her book as Pistachio was knocked over yet again.

“But… you can handle these settings…” She sighed.

“That’s because the default setting is fire. As in, the thing Ancient Magic is strongest against.” She was about to go into exactly what settings she thought Pistachio could test himself against- ideally, it would be the element he was strongest against, as described in the first year curriculum- when the door opened.

“Pistachio! Clair! What are you guys doing? The bus is here!” Clair sighed and shut her book as Kirche ran into the room. She’d been hoping for a chance to practice with her new conjuration, designed for throwing, as she had long since realized that she couldn’t hit anything eye level with her with anything less than a perfect sphere.

Sesame followed closely. “Camp starts today! Let’s have a lot of fun!” Pistachio sat down on the floor in defeat.

“I can’t go to camp… I’m going to be held back a grade if I go!” Clair could understand. Not being able to pass the first year of the academy was generally a bad sign for further education. And it was rather close to exams.

She was lucky enough to get high grades in both theoretical and practical classes. Not everyone could say that.

Sesame, of course, just laughed off Pistachio’s concerns. “You’ll be fine! Kirche’s brother was held back in his second year, you know. Twice, even!”

“Shut up! Will you drop it already!” Clair winced. Kirche’s family was known to be able to use both the power of spirits and the power of the stars. Both of them Fire Magic. Dangerous people to mess with, certainly, if you weren’t fireproof.

Pistachio was almost crying now. “But if I’m held back… I’ll have to quit school. My mom said that if I’m held back, I should stop learning magic and help out around the house all day!”

“If that’s the case, I’ll help you train during camp!” Kirche suggested. Clair sighed.

“Kirche, the rules Miss Madeleine set out for camp include no using magic that could damage the local environs. Fire Magic counts.”

“It’ll be fine! Come on, let’s go!” Clair decided to make herself scarce if those two showed any signs of burning down the campsite.

“I have to return this book to the library first. It’s due today.” She’d taken all the notes from it she’d need to practice at camp, anyway. As she made her way out the door, Blueberry poked her head in.

“What are you all doing? We’re about to leave.” She was closely followed by her friend Lemon. Clair still wasn’t on speaking terms with them, after they had figured out conductivity and shattered the conjuration she was working on at the time.

Just more reason to get to the library quickly.

 

* * *

 

“What are you doing? The bus has arrived! It’s no ordinary bus, you know!” Clair wondered why, exactly, Peche was chattering so much. “It’s a magical bus Principal Biscotti borrowed from King Geattsua!” That explained it. The fact that their principal knew the king personally was well known, but there was a difference between understanding something and seeing actual proof.

There was a lot of noise overhead, and soon Latte came running down the stairs. “Save me!!!” Before running out the door.

Peche and Clair both blinked. “Well, at least he’s making it to the bus…”

“That still leaves a lot of us unaccounted for,” Peche mused. “Hey, Clair. You’re taking that book you’re carrying back to the library, right? When you’re done, could you find the others? I’m pretty sure they’re hanging out in the music room.” Clair nodded. Simple enough.

 

* * *

 

“You’re cutting it rather close, you know.” Clair just laughed and set the book on the desk.

“Sorry, Mrs. Tart… I did finish it, though!”

“...This is a final year text on magical theory. You just turned fourteen last week, and are only just finishing your first full year here.”

“It is?” Mrs. Tart sighed.

“Did you even look at the cover? I sometimes wonder why you even stay here.”

“Because before I came here, I was literally living off of gummy frogs.” Besides that, she simply didn’t test well. Reading the texts was enjoyable for her, but she’d never been much of an essay writer.

She suspected that was why early graduations were so rare. The essays were out to get them. Not that she’d say as much to anyone else.

“Well, either way, have fun at camp. I don’t want you coming back without at least a slight tan. No staying in the cabins all day.” Clair got the feeling that the librarian would tell Miss Madeleine just to make sure, and resolved to spend as much time as possible in the sun.

Anything. Anything but being cut off from her books.

 

* * *

 

“Those are just lies. If they were true, there’s no way we’d go to Valencia Beach every year.” Clair paused outside the music room, interested in what the others were talking about.

“The school has to squash these rumors, you see.” She’d never taken Cassis for a conspiracy theorist before. “Every year around this time, some people say they’ll break down the school gates… There must be some truth to the rumors.”

Cider scoffed. “If someone really does disappear every year at camp, where’s the proof? Who, exactly, has disappeared?”

“Ganache’s sister, Vanilla…” Olive’s voice was quiet, like always, befitting someone who managed to get into the school at the minimum age, but like always, she was still impossible to ignore. “After camp three years ago, she immediately ran away from home…”

“That has nothing to do with camp.” Clair thought that this might be a good time to actually enter the room. That way, she wouldn’t have to think about what they were talking about too much. Surely, they were just silly rumors… right?

They weren’t.

But Clair didn’t know that, and gathered her friends for camp with a smile. Not that they’d stop talking about the rumors.

“Well, we can just ask Cabernet, right?”

Cider paused. “Cabernet? Why?” Clair agreed with that. She knew Ganache could be a bit... well, Ganache… but there couldn’t be much harm in asking. She chalked it up to the growing sentiment against Dark Magic users and left it at that. “Where is Cabernet, anyway?”

“I think he’s still in the classroom,” Cassis suggested. Clair sighed. Running around the school at the last minute was not her idea of fun.

But then, it wasn’t any different than usual for her, was it? She decided to treat it like a normal day for now.

The fact that she had no clue how to even be a normal mage should have been a huge warning sign that her life would never be easy. But she decided that she’d focus on enjoying her summer camp.

Of course, it wasn’t like she got much chance to do so, either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, funny thing... looking on Google, this just might be the only novelization of Magical Vacation out there. Which begs the question: How many of you have actually played the game?  
> No, Mrs. Tart knows nothing about the Enigmas. Or, at least, doesn't realize how soon everything is going to go down.  
> Clair's social skills still need a bit of work, especially as she no longer has the excuse of being a silent protagonist. She is going to be an actual part of this world even if it kills her.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Events continue to play out, leading up to that fateful summer camp. A vacation like no other.  
> Soon, they set off, albeit not without a few snags on the way.

They did find Cabernet, eventually. He was still in the classroom, seemingly moping.

“What’s wrong, Cabernet?” Cassis asked, pulling out the chair next to him. “Are you thinking of your brother?”

Cabernet sighed. “Even after Ganache’s sister… left… she would come back to this classroom, to meet with Chardonnay. After it happened, her personality changed… I was there for it, once. He’d been showing me around the school that day. He wanted her to come back to school, because everyone was worried about her. She didn’t believe him. Just kept going on about how people hated her because she could use Dark Magic. Or something.”

Clair sighed. It was a lot like her home village, wasn’t it? Only with less torches and pitchforks. Something told her Vanilla’s disappearance would have been a lot less mysterious if those were involved.

“He did promise though…” Cabernet mused. “He said he’d protect her from anyone who was her enemy. Even if it was the world… I’m still not sure why she didn’t at least appreciate it. All she said was that she’d found her own power, and wasn’t the same cowardly Vanilla anymore. That was the last time either of us saw her.”

“Are you... crying?” Arancia asked. He laughed.

“No, of course not. I just… got some dust in my eye.” None of them believed him.

Cassis sighed. “Let it go, Cabernet. You’ll feel better at the beach.”

Clair nodded. “I’ve read that the sunsets at Valencia Beach make it the most beautiful place on Kovomaka. And we won’t even force you into the frog-catching contest.”

“He never wins, anyway…” Cider muttered, before returning to the subject. “Let’s finish this on the bus. We’re going to be late as it is.”

That was enough to get them moving.

 

* * *

  
  


The class filed on the bus to see everyone waiting… for the most part. “Miss Madeleine isn’t here yet?” Clair asked. “She’s usually more punctual than this.” A coughing sound from the other side of the bus, and they turned to see Principal Biscotti.

“Ah!” Cabernet cried. “Where did you come from!?”

“He’s been here the whole time,” Peche replied. “Actually, he met us on the way out. Said there was an announcement.”

“That is… correct, Miss Farmer. This year at camp, we will be testing everybody’s magical capabilities. Any who give up and leave the camp will be expelled.” Clair vowed not to leave the camp. She didn’t want to give up her only real home.

Pistachio sat up from the chair he’d been sprawled out on. “What!? Why?”

“The reason for this is that something may possibly occur, and Miss Madeleine will suggest that all of you go home. All who leave without a second thought… will be expelled without a second thought.”

“Is he serious?” Cider asked.

“This was originally meant to be kept a secret from the students, but I have expressly decided to let all of you know. Please keep this announcement a secret from Miss Madeleine. That is all.” With that, he turned and left the bus.

Clair made her way over to Latte, who was sitting towards the back. “Is this seat open?”

“Nobody has sat here since I got on the bus.” That was a yes, then.

“So, do you want to tell me why you were freaking out earlier? That’s… not really like you.”

“Everyone in the music room was telling scary stories. I don’t like scary stories. And then they started talking about camp…”

“Latte, the only proof they have of those stories is Vanilla Nighthawk apparently becoming a delinquent or something. It’s just a crazy conspiracy theory. Nothing is going to happen at camp.” She didn’t promise. In all honesty, that was probably for the best. She’d never be able to keep it, anyway.

There was the sound of shoving outside. “Come on, hurry up, Chocolat…” Clair didn’t know why Miss Madeleine was even trying. They all knew Chocolat had two speeds… slow and painfully slow. “Everyone’s waiting for you!”

“Mmm. Mellow.” He did eventually get on the bus. Miss Madeleine followed.

“Now, before I forget… you all do have your Magic Handbooks, correct?” Clair always had hers with her. She planned to do so until the day came she had it memorized. She never quite managed to.

Kirche winced. “Um… mine sort of… caught fire yesterday…” Miss Madeleine sighed and got one out from her bag.

“This is the third one this month, Kirche. You should be more careful.” They all knew it wouldn’t sink in. Part of the reason the book budget was so high was to make room for the countless fiery mistakes of the Pintail family and similar, after all.

“So, now that you’re all here… almost all here… could somebody please get Ganache?” Olive slipped out of her seat and ran out the door.

“You know, Pistachio,” Lemon stated with a grin. “If Ganache never shows up, Kirche will be your opponent.”

“There will be no Fire Magic permitted at the campsite except in an emergency,” Miss Madeleine immediately replied.

Clair flipped through her Magic Handbook, idly wondering how long it would take her to truly know all of this information. “I’d be willing to help, if it means the beach is still standing after this. I don’t really have anything else to do. Or maybe ask Cassis. He’s been looking for a sparring partner.”

Pistachio did not seem at all reassured by this. Probably for good reason.

 

* * *

  
  


Clair found that she did not like Balsamico’s driving. The main reason being that he didn’t even wait for the school gates to open and plowed right through it. It had even knocked off her hat. Still, after a while, it seemed to have smoothed out, discounting the numerous potholes. If she didn’t know better, she’d say he was trying to hit them all, except for the fact that the roads weren’t the best maintained.

Conversation, of course, had continued. “Chocolat, do you really live by yourself?” Peche asked. He nodded.

“He’s lived on that hill for as long as I can remember,” Blueberry remarked. “That’s probably how Principal Biscotti was able to see his talent.”

“He was handpicked?” Clair couldn’t help but ask. “That makes four of us…”

“Latte doesn’t count, you know,” Blueberry replied. “The principal bought him at a curio shop for two hundred Bira.”

“The price is irrelevant,” Latte responded. “I am the one who determines my own worth.”

Clair nodded. “And Biscotti was vastly undercharged, anyway. He’s plenty powerful, and works perfectly well so long as there’s someone to maintain him.”

There was silence for a moment. “...Clair, you’re the only one at the school who even knows how to maintain him,” Cassis pointed out.

In the seat just in front of the two Ancient Mages, Candy and Arancia were talking about boys. Clair tuned them out.

“Stop talking about me already!” Kirche yelled at the girls and Sesame, who had apparently joined in at some point. “We’re going to the beach! The beach, you hear!? The beach!”

“At the beach, we go back to being children,” Cider softly spoke. “It was neither the powerful hands of warriors, nor the adept hands of artisans, that opened the doors of heaven. It was the petite hands of children.”

Clair didn’t realize, then, just how true those words would become to her life. She barely even heard it, over the rumble of the engines and everyone else’s conversations. But she couldn’t help but take note of it, anyway.

“Hey, twerps!” Balsamico called. “The oceans coming into view!”

They had arrived. Summer camp had begun. And all the plans laid out long ago were finally beginning to come into place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Certain deviations from the source material are unavoidable. Any scene that doesn't directly involve Clair would, naturally, be rather difficult for her to narrate. Other things she doesn't quite catch, and don't end up being important enough for her to put in at the event itself.  
> In other news, Operation 'Give Clair A Personality' is going rather nicely. And Latte's luck is still in the negatives.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Camp has started, and everyone is having fun. For some reason, Clair's classmates seem fixated on pirate treasure. She doesn't get the appeal, but decides to go along with them anyway.  
> This somehow leads to them exploring a haunted cave.

“...And so you’ll have free time from now until tonight’s campfire. Class dismissed!” Clair managed to tear her gaze away from the sunset at those words. It seemed she’d accidentally tuned out the entire lecture.

“I’m taking a donut!” Lemon decided, grabbing one of the pastries from Pistachio’s plate and running off, knocking into Latte on the way. He turned around.

“Hey! Give that back!” He ran after her, also running into the robot.

Clair didn’t wander off for a bit after that, watching the ground to make sure that nothing had fallen off of her friend. Things had started getting better after she started doing maintenance checks, but she had to be careful.

“See, Arancia?” She heard Kirche hiss. “Miss Madeleine didn’t even notice when half of us were goofing off!” Said teacher was already staring into the waves.

Sighing, Clair decided to follow Peche into the woods. There were some trees she could use for target practice….

* * *

  
  


Clair was distracted from her little field test by Kirche. “When you’re thinking of Valencia Beach, you think of pirates! Pirates, I say! Pirates have buried treasure around here!” Well, if he was running around, there wasn’t any chance of her getting any peace and quiet to work with.

She dismissed the conjuration and turned around before he could grab her hand. “Let’s go explore!” He suggested. She sighed.

“Do you really think a bunch of teenagers are going to find buried treasure?” The look on his face said that Kirche actually did think that.

“Isn’t that a little dangerous?” Peche pointed out. Clair shook her head.

“He’s off on a tangent, Peche. He’ll cool down soon enough.”

“It sounds interesting!” Arancia chipped in. “And it can’t be that dangerous! I mean, it’s only camp!” That was a fair point. They probably wouldn’t find anything, but they also wouldn’t likely manage to hurt themselves, either. “You don’t have to go. It’ll be fine with just us.”

“But that won’t be as exciting…” Kirche mused. “We need six people for a proper adventure. With me as the leader, of course!” That sounded like a terrible idea. Kirche couldn’t even keep his own homework from exploding, let alone an adventuring party.

“Maybe with Lemon and Blueberry? Or is Clair still mad at them?”

“A little. And don’t involve me in this. I won’t take orders from Kirche.”

“Why not?”

Clair groaned. “Because I remember what happened last time.” That had not been a very good winter break.

“Let’s invite Candy!”

“Kirche, all you’ve been talking about recently is Candy!” Arancia shot back.

“Th-that’s not true…”

“Yes, it is,” Clair, Peche, and Arancia stated in unison.

“No it isn’t!”

Peche sighed. “You really plan on ignoring my warning, don’t you?” Clair shrugged.

“Most they can do here is trip over a branch or something. At least we’re not near any cliffs.”

 

* * *

 

Clair left the others to their… well, it had devolved into petty squabbling by now… to wander the beach. For whatever reason, the sun didn’t seem to have gotten any lower than the last time she’d checked.

“Yo! Clair!” She didn’t know why Sesame was calling her over, but he sounded excited.

“What is it?”

Sesame tapped the rock behind him. “I think we could get Latte to move this! And I see something on the other side! We should explore it!”

“I get the feeling you aren’t going to take no for an answer,” She sighed. “Sure. We just need to get Latte, right?”

“And maybe three others,” He replied. “That’s what you need for a good adventure!”

“Funny… Kirche said the same thing.”

“It’ll be fun! I bet we can find pirate treasure or something!” At this point, Clair was pretty sure there was something wrong with her classmates.

“If you say so.” Fortunately, the robot they needed was rather close by. “Hey, Latte. Would you mind helping us move a rock? We’d ask Chocolat, but… Chocolat.”

“Why?” Latte asked.

“Sesame wants to explore. I’m not entirely sure about this, but…”

“I’ll go,” He agreed. Which was easier than she’d expected. “We’re keeping him from doing something stupid, right?”

“That’s the plan,” She replied.

“...Guys, I’m right here.” They ignored Sesame’s irritation in favor of going back to the rock.

 

* * *

 

Right. Giant cave opening. Of course there was one. Though it seemed Olive and Ganache had somehow found a way through first. “Here it is…” The student of Dark Magic said.

“Did you figure something out…?” Olive asked. Clair didn’t bother attempting to hide or anything. Latte made that sort of impossible, even if she could get Sesame to agree. And she didn’t think there was anything to be scared of, really.

“Let’s not get close to it. It seems dangerous.”

“What exactly is here…?” Olive took a step forward, before seemingly thinking better of it and stepping back again.

“Darkness… Endless darkness…” And despite not being scared of the dark, something about the way Ganache said it made Clair think that maybe there actually was something to fear in that cave.

“Outta the way, Ganache! I found this cave first!” And it seemed that Sesame had been paying no attention.

“You’re going in?” Ganache turned to take in the trio. “Then you’d best prepare yourselves. Something just might jump out of the shadows.” He walked past, his words seeming to linger.

“Please be careful…” Olive followed after him, leaving Sesame, Latte, and Clair alone at the entrance to the decidedly ominous cave.

Sesame shook his head. “Don’t try to scare me… I’m not afraid!”

“His words sounded almost like a threat,” Latte noted.

“So… are we still going inside?” Clair asked. Sesame darted ahead. “I’ll take that as a yes…”

* * *

  
  


The cave itself was… well, it was dark. Ganache hadn’t been wrong there. And there was something just a bit off about it, but Clair wasn’t sure what it was.

“I have a bad feeling…” Latte announced. “My heart feels like it’s going to freeze over.” Ah, that was it.

Something moved in the corner of Clair’s vision. “Did any of you see that?” She asked, only the fact that her friends were there keeping her calm. So maybe what Ganache said had a bit more effect on her than she’d like.

“I didn’t see anything,” Latte replied.

“Really?” Sesame asked. “That’s odd. I thought I saw something, too.” He ventured ahead of the other two. “It looks like a tiny man with a mustache.” Clair and Latte followed.

“I still don’t see anything,” The robot stated. Which was odd, because Clair could see the figure in front of them perfectly well. The man turned to face the trio, and spoke in an odd, echoing voice.

“Many have died in this cave. Pirates buried treasure here, and to protect the secret, killed all of their underlings. Two centuries later, the treasure was dug up. But the ones doing the digging had a falling out, and killed each other. Those feelings… the darkness runs strong here. A distortion in the realms… and those that don’t take care… shall slip through.” With that, the figure vanished.

“...Did we just see a ghost?” Clair asked. For a moment, she couldn’t help but think of what Cassis had said earlier. Maybe it wasn’t just conspiracy theories after all.

“What ghost?” Latte asked. Sesame looked ahead.

“I… it’s nothing,” He responded. Clair didn’t think it was nothing. “Come on, let’s go.”

She wasn’t quite sure why he thought it was a good idea to go deeper into the clearly haunted cave, but she’d stuck with him this far. And the cave didn’t look to be all that big.

They found the treasure after just a few minutes of walking. Or, rather, where the treasure used to be. Like the apparition had said, it had all been dug out.

“There appears to be one unopened chest left,” Latte commented, and Clair followed his gaze to the very end of the cave. The benefits of having a friend with night vision.

“Is it treasure?” Sesame chimed in. “Come on, Clair, open it!”

“I’m trying!” She responded. Well… simple or not, a lock was still a mechanism. And a rusty one at that. Locks worked with springs and… “Got it!” It burst open, and a small monster leapt out.

Clair couldn’t help but grin. Trees were one thing, but… She conjured the machine she was experimenting with. “Ready… Aim… Fire!” A large number of screws impaled the poor creature, pinning it to the cave wall. “Field test successful.”

“Is there anything else in the chest?” Sesame shoved her aside, and peered in. “...Pinecones? Really?”

“I’m pretty sure Stickies use them as currency,” Clair pointed out. “Latte? Nothing’s coming up on us from behind, right?”

“There do not appear to be any more monsters,” He replied. “And the one on the wall appears to have been killed instantly. But we should go. It’s almost time for the campfire.”

Neither of them argued. As soon as they left the cave, hopefully for the last time, Peche ran up to them.

“Clair, Sesame, Latte!” She panted. “We’ve been looking for you! Where have you been?”

“Haunted cave,” They replied.

“...What…? Anyway, the campfire’s already starting! Hurry up!”

Clair ran ahead of the others, no longer suppressing the instinct that told her to get as far away from the cave as possible. She had no clue why she didn’t listen to it before. But she was sure it was over now, so it wasn’t a problem.

...Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Clair acts differently depending on where she is. If she's at school, she's the average bookworm that just so happens to turn it into an obsession. For the most part.  
> As it turns out, nascent Light Mages do not like being thrown into haunted caves at nightfall. For obvious reasons.  
> Clair needs to learn not to tempt fate. She'll learn... someday.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first night at camp... and also the last. Clair shouldn't have ignored that feeling, as everything starts to spiral out of control.  
> At least she still has Ganache, if only for a bit. It's not a good night in the slightest.

Clair leaned back from the campfire as the winds changed, blowing smoke into her eyes. Latte, next to her, didn’t react.

“Our long camp begins now,” Miss Madeleine spoke up. “During camp, you will be away from your families, and so must take care of things on your own.” So she had an advantage. Good to know. “I expect that the first few days will be fun, but as time goes on, you might get lonely, or have a fight with others, or continue pre-existing ones.”

“Why is she looking at us?” Lemon asked. Blueberry sighed.

“Because Clair hasn’t quite forgiven us yet and it was our fault to begin with?”

The teacher continued to speak as if she hadn’t been interrupted. “There will be happy times and tough ones. But, above all else, it will be a valuable experience. The more experienced you are, the stronger you become.”

“So, we’ll never lose to anyone?” Kirche interjected. Miss Madeleine shook her head.

“No, that’s not it at all. The truly strong have no need to fight in the first place.”

Pistachio clenched his paws. “But if I can’t win against Calamari, I’ll be held back a grade! I have to fight and win!”

Their teacher sighed. “Think of it like this. It’s okay not to fight. It’s okay not to win. It’s okay to be held back. It’s okay if your parents don’t let you go to Will-o-Wisp Academy. It’s okay if you don’t go to school.”

“But if that happens, I won’t be able to see everyone anymore! Clair and Latte don’t even leave the school!” He wasn’t wrong. Clair saw no reason to leave the grounds if she didn’t have to. She was fine with the sprawling lawn and the library full of books.

“Even if you don’t go to school, not one person here will stop being your friend. No matter where you are, everyone’s hearts are connected. If you can realize that, you can awaken the power within you.”

“That’s how spirit-based magic works,” Clair noted. “By connecting with the spirits, it draws power to the surface that you can’t find on your own.”

“Clair is correct. What we teach in school beyond that doesn’t really matter. Do you understand?”

“But-”

“Don’t worry, Pistachio! I already said I’ll help you train! Even if I can’t use my magic, I’m sure it’ll be fine!”

Peche bounced up from her seat. “I’ll help, too!”

Pistachio sighed and looked away. “It’s the end of me if I’m coached by someone like Peche.” Said Love Mage proceeded to slap him.

“Very well! Let it be the end of you!”

“I’m sorry!” He cried and ran. Peche turned and dashed after him, still yelling.

“There will be one hour of free time starting now. Class dismissed!”

Sesame grinned. “That’s long enough for a frog-catching competition, don’t you think?”

Cassis nodded. “That sounds like fun. You in, Clair?” She grinned back.

“Of course!” She had to defend her title, after all. “We need to find more people, though. Maybe Ganache? Candy, Chocolat, and Arancia don’t know either, and we have to invite at least Arancia.”

“I can’t believe they skipped,” Kirche sighed.

“Why? It’s not like Miss Madeleine was paying any attention,” Cabernet pointed out. “Clair, Sesame and Latte could have gotten away with skipping had Peche not found them.”

Arancia came walking back into the camp area at that moment. “Hey, Kirche. What are you talking about?”

“Frog-catching contest.”

“Oh, that seems like a great idea! There’s a lot of them over near where we arrived, so we can have it there.”

“Okay, we just need to invite Candy and Ganache now,” Kirche decided. “I’m going on ahead to scout the area. Clair, you get Candy and Ganache.” Clair nodded and set off to find them. This was going to be fun.

* * *

  
  


She did manage to track down Ganache. He was walking along the shore, carrying a wrapped box. “Clair. We need to talk.”

“About what?” The faintly-glowing Dark Mage paused before speaking.

“It’s a feeling I have. Something’s coming.” Which elucidated absolutely nothing. Except for her own bad feeling.

“This air of anticipation… you feel it, too?” She asked. He nodded.

“You can use your magic for combat, correct?” Clair sighed.

“I don’t know. Maybe? I’ve only got so much power at once. Ancient Magic isn’t as useful in battles as other kinds. Cassis would be better.”

“You won’t master your magic if you don’t use it, though,” Ganache pointed out. “And if you feel the same things I do, than you know you’ll need it. Because something is definitely going to happen.” That, they were agreed on.

“...So, we’re having a competition to see who can catch the most frogs-”

“I am not interested in participating. And I don’t believe Candy would be, either.” Was she really that predictable?

“Okay. Later, then.” She turned to go back to the others, putting the conversation out of mind for thoughts of victory and gummies. She’d grow to regret it very quickly.

* * *

  
  


Clair grinned as she stuffed yet another gummy frog into her pocket. The others might have been fast, but she was smart. And experienced. She know how to catch gummies better than anyone. Or at least the frogs. She didn’t bother with the worms. Too much trouble.

“Got it!” Kirche called, finally catching the frog he’d been chasing for the whole competition. Cassis and Arancia were still hunting around the edges. And then Clair noticed something glowing just at the edge of her vision.

Glowing purple. Which meant it was either Miss Madeleine or Ganache. At least, if things were normal. But that wouldn’t cause Blueberry to scream.

Kirche turned around in surprise, just as Blueberry and Lemon came running into the contest area.

“Help!” Blueberry cried. “Everyone’s going to be killed!” It was more than just two glowing figures. It was a horde of them. And they were glowing far too brightly to be Ganache, anyway.

“What’s going on?” Arancia asked. “What happened?” A monstrous figure leapt into the clearing, blue with odd marks on its body that almost looked like a heart.

“What in the world is that thing!?” Kirche stepped back. Clair wasn’t sure what to do, either. For some reason, she always felt weaker at night. Night, when users of Dark Magic like the creatures swarming over the camp were strongest.

“How should I know!?” Lemon snapped back. “Why don’t you go ask it yourself!?”

Clair could think of a good reason. Mostly involving not having a death wish.

“Stand back! I’ll burn it to ashes!” Well, she supposed that this counted as enough of an emergency to get by the ban. “Arancia, treat their injuries. Clair, get help!” Which meant Miss Madeleine, because she could resist the attacks.

“R-right!” She bolted, only pausing for a moment to make sure Arancia had enough frogs. She didn’t know where Cassis had gotten off too, but it wasn’t a good sign.

She could sense Razen leaving its aura field. She kept running, even as she saw one of the creatures pounce on Latte and disappear with him.

Even as the same happened to Peche. The creature that had grabbed her didn’t leave though, instead turning to Clair. Not that she’d be capable of fighting it. She ducked to the side and kept running, not stopping for anything.

“W-w-what?! What are you dooooing!?” Pistachio. She could see Cassis now, fighting alongside Ganache. They were both doing relatively well. Perhaps the Blade Mage had decided to do what she was doing, only to be caught before he could get there.

“Clair!” Cassis called. “We can’t fight all of them! They just keep coming!”

“I’ll take care of it,” Ganache stated. “Clair. What of the others?” She shook her head.

“Kirche was doing well, but that was when Razen’s aura was active. They sent me to find Miss Madeleine.”

“Do that, then. After that, get to safety.” Wherever that was.

Clair nodded and continued in her run.

* * *

  
  


Even the ricebirds were gone. But there weren’t any of the creatures there, so Clair paused for a moment in order to catch her breath. She didn’t know if that was a mistake or not.

“Stay away from me!” Candy’s voice was all she heard as she approached the other campfire. Another scream echoed over the campsite, and then nothing.

“Candy!” She wasn’t sure when Ganache had gotten there.

“Ganache? Where’s Cassis?” The dark look on his face told her all she needed to know. Chocolat, Olive, and Sesame were still unaccounted for, but she didn’t like those odds.

“Where are they taking them…?” He muttered.

“It’ll be fine. We can still fight, right?” Clair suggested. Ganache just ran at the monsters. Maybe she shouldn’t have said that.

The one that had taken Candy disappeared. The remaining blue creature hovered over the campfire, eyes alighting on both Ganache and Clair.

“Hehehe! I like the look in your eyes… the both of you… have some sort of power, don’t you? And the dark one has already fought a lot tonight… how long can you last? Come at me, you two.” A challenge, was it? She stepped up, only for Ganache to stand between them.

“Clair… don’t interfere…”

“He challenged me, too,” She replied.

“You’re supposed to be getting Miss Madeleine. I’ll handle this myself.” Well, he’d probably be better at it than she would.

“O-okay!” She nodded and continued her run, ignoring the sounds of more monsters approaching.

Miss Madeleine noticed her approach and looked up. “Clair? What’s wrong?”

“...Monsters…” She gasped out, not anywhere near in shape enough for the race of her life after the rest of the day’s adventures. “They- they got everyone. Ganache’s holding them off, but-”

“...I see. The Enigma are creatures born from darkness. They shouldn’t be laying their hands on this realm yet… why now?”

“There’s so many of them… we were completely surrounded. One of them… it tried to challenge me.” She wasn’t sure why her teacher’s gaze darkened at that.

“And there’s nowhere you can run away from them… they are masters of Warp Magic. Stay here. Hide in the cabins. I’ll be back soon.”

Clair did as she was told. She curled up under the covers of her bed and tried to get everything that had happened out of her mind. Miss Madeleine didn’t come back.

* * *

  
  


When Clair woke up the next morning, it was to an abandoned campsite.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There were a number of deviations from canon here, starting with the tutorial being replaced with an actual conversation. In addition, Clair actually listened to Miss Madeleine, meaning that she misses the epic fight on the beach and Sesame getting taken.  
> Not that it changes anything else. Everyone is still taken, it's just that she gets an actual night's sleep, which is required for her to be even the slightest bit lucid for the upcoming fights.  
> Clair and Ganache have an interesting dynamic. They have Light and Dark Magic, respectively, yet they still trust each other with the whole 'impending disaster' thing. Not that Clair can use her Light Magic at the moment, but it still counts.  
> Part of the reason Ganache and the Enigmas are so powerful in this story is the fact that their spirits and Starsigns complement each other. Kirche has the same thing, as does Latte. Miss Madeleine is friends with Holies and has a Dark Starsign. It's weird, but it also means she could fight just about anything. In theory. In practise... well, canon.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the day after the attack, and Clair doesn't know what to do next. So she decides to ask for help. Her Early friend does not get paid enough for this. (She's not paying him at all.)  
> Was it all a bad idea? Probably.

Clair woke up to the sunrise, as she always did. It was a habit that she’d never managed to get rid of, and never would. The cabin was empty.

She packed everything she’d brought back into her bag, just in case, before pushing the curtains away from the window. The beach looked peaceful. Nobody in sight.

Of course, that also meant that there were no Enigma, so she felt that meant it was safe to go outside. Everything was quiet, to the point where she could only hear the waves lapping at the shore and her own feet crunching in the sand. It was peaceful, but also lonely.

She hadn’t thought she’d be glad for them forgetting to put away their leftovers from dinner, but it was the only food within sight, and she wasn’t quite ready to raid Miss Madeleine’s cabin yet. Maybe a little stale, and more than a bit salty, but she could live with it. And it was a good distraction from the disaster of the night before.

Blue sky, blue sea, and a clean plate. Nobody had come back yet, and the sun was steadily climbing. Clair had to admit that she was, in fact, alone at the camp.

She didn’t really know what to do. It wasn’t like there was a subsection of one of her textbooks dedicated to handling the aftermath of an Enigma attack. If there were, she probably would have handled things differently.

She couldn’t just stay at the remains of the campfire forever. Not least of which because of the slight fear that the Enigma could have come back. But she didn’t know where to go from there.

She decided to start by inspecting the rest of the camp. Maybe there’s be something she could use to figure out what was going on. Or, failing that, just to survive.

* * *

  
  


The bus was gone. Clair didn’t know why she was surprised. Even on the off chance that the Enigma didn’t take it, anyone sane would have driven away first chance they got. Expulsion or not, people generally preferred living.

She didn’t think it was driven away, though. No tracks. Not perfect evidence, but enough. Tire treads weren’t her specialty, anyway.

She didn’t know what she would have done if the bus was still there. Tried to use her magic on it, maybe. It would have been dangerous, but things had already escalated far beyond that point.

She decided to return to the main beach area for the time being. It was safer on the stretch of sand, where she could theoretically see anything that would come to get her. A fear that Clair hadn’t had before the previous night, but that the Enigma had very quickly instilled into her.

She could tell where others had been taken because a set of claw marks would always end there. Not that she bothered to keep track. Plenty of other abductions were already washed away by the tides.

It was just her left. The sole escapee of the attack, and she’d made it purely on luck. She held no illusions as to what would have happened if the attackers decided to check inside the cabins. It couldn’t have been that she didn’t interest them. Not when she’d been personally challenged.

Yet, for whatever reason, she’d been left behind, with no direction. Nothing but a bag full of essentials and books.

She didn’t know what to do next.

 

* * *

 

It was a glint of light that told Clair what to do next. She had just arrived back on the beach when she saw it. And she could immediately tell, without even having to look at it a second time, that it was reflecting off a coin.

She scurried over to pick it up, the metal disk still damp from the waves, yet starting to warm from the sun. She hadn’t had to handle coins since coming to Will-o-Wisp. And, even then, it was mostly to exchange them for Bira.

It was the thought of her time before Will-o-Wisp, in fact, that gave her the idea itself, and she wondered why she hadn’t thought of it sooner. After all, Calling spirits was the most basic spell idea there was.

It was the Early from Nutley that responded to her Call. Of course it was. She hadn’t had the chance to meet other Earlies yet. Nor did she expect to for a long time, as Holies and Inkies were the only spirits that exceeded them in rarity. She liked the extra power, but not enough to go spirit hunting.

“What do you want, Clair?” The spirit asked with the air of the long-suffering. She wasn’t sure why. She hadn’t called him in months.

“Aeon,” She started, deciding to get on with business before anything else, “What do you know about the Enigma?”

“All Dark Magic users, notoriously difficult to kill, the only creatures who can use Warp Magic without reading a cursed textbook- wait, how do you know about them?”

It took her a few moments to reply. “They attacked the camp last night. As far as I can tell, I’m the only one who escaped, though some of the others put up a good fight.”

“I see. You aren’t planning on doing anything stupid, are you?”

“What’s there to do? They’re all gone. The only way to even know where they are would be if Latte were to Call you for something,” She pointed out. It wasn’t like she had any way of tracking them down. If they were using Warp Magic, they could be anywhere, even in another world.

The thought caught her just a bit later than it should have. A memory of the previous day, and the adventure Sesame had dragged her and Latte on.

So maybe it wasn’t a guarantee. But it was still better than sitting around and waiting for something to happen. She dismissed Aeon and began mentally preparing herself for the possible journey ahead.

 

* * *

 

Clair hadn’t wanted to go back to the cave. Had she not had a crazy idea, she would have been quite happy never setting foot in it again. It wasn’t as bad as it had been before, due to the daytime as much as anything else, but even the entrance still held an air of danger.

“Dark, creepy, probably still haunted… and still my best bet. What even is my life?” She shook her head, trying not to think about what she had just listed.

She was supposed to be the relatively reasonable one. And then this had happened. Because of course it did. All of her instincts were screaming at her to run and never look back, but her conscience told her to keep looking if there was even the slightest chance of finding the others.

Sometimes, she really hated her conscience. She could have just sat on the beach with her Handbook until the situation resolved itself, but because she considered herself a good person, she just had to wander in a haunted cave.

...Okay, she wasn’t quite sure where that had come from. That was cynical. Maybe recent events were getting to her worse than she’d thought. She needed something to distract herself from those thoughts.

Something like the odd shimmering light that Clair was sure hadn’t been there yesterday. It wasn’t even a proper light, really, but there was no other way to describe the mysterious circle that had suddenly appeared at the cave’s end. It just was.

She knew Aeon wasn’t going to be happy with her for this. She wasn’t happy with her for this. But it was hope, and so she stepped into the circle, out of Valencia beach and into a verdant forest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A thing to remember, going onward. These kids may have magic. They may be capable. But they're still just kids.  
> Welcome to the Light Realm, Clair. Watch your step.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clair's transition between the worlds isn't exactly as smooth as it could be, nor was she expecting it to. Thankfully, she isn't alone for long.  
> Not that Pistachio's necessarily the best company in this situation, but it's better than nothing.

It took a few moments for Clair to take in her surroundings. The first thing that came to mind was that this was obviously nowhere near Valencia Beach. It was just a nice clearing.

There were a couple of pots sitting at the edge of the clearing, which led off to another path. “Hey!” She called, glad to see them. Glad to see any sort of friendly face. “Would you happen to know where this is?”

“This is Mimolette Forest,” The small green pot replied. “Did you just arrive in the Light Realm? We didn’t see you come this way.”

The Light Realm. So she wasn’t even on the same plane of existence. Warp Magic was weird.

She heard a shuffling noise nearby and, for lack of any better ideas, wandered away from the pots. A familiar boy her age was wandering through the grass. “Pistachio!” She smiled. He turned in surprise.

“Ah! Clair! I’m saved!” Okay, she hadn’t taken him for a hugger before.

“What happened?” She asked.

“A strange creature suddenly appeared out of nowhere and chased me down the beach…”

“I know that part. I was there.”

“I just tripped and found myself here… I was hiding out all night… but it’s okay now! I found a friend!” Suddenly, he stiffened and backed away, before Clair felt a clawed hand on her shoulder.

She turned around and, seeing an Enigma, threw everything at it that she could conjure. She turned to tell Pistachio that it was fine, only to see trampled grass leading into the distance. Well, at least he was easy to follow. And there were pinecones along the path.

Clair’s first fifteen minutes in the Light Realm consisted of one fight, following Pistachio’s trail, and picking up pinecones.

Given the circumstances, not bad at all.

* * *

  
  


She found Pistachio curled up and shaking on top of a log bridge with a large monster towering over him. A Demice. They were fairly uncommon, but Clair remembered visiting towns that suffered from an infestation.

“I’m in trouble… I’m trapped…” He whimpered as the fat rodent continued to squeak. “I’m done for…”

She sighed. “Pistachio, remember your magic? That thing you’re supposed to use in these situations? The thing with the nuts?”

“Clair! You’re okay! I thought that the creature-”

“There isn’t exactly time for this right now,” She pointed out. “Let’s fight the Demice first, and then try and figure this out.”

“Y-yeah! Good idea! Um… do you think you could get it under a tree? It’ll be easier to hit that way.”

Clair nodded and grabbed Pistachio’s paw before running along the river. A quick check told her that they were still being followed. “This good enough?”

He was still shaking, but nodded anyway. “I- I can probably do this.” Acorns started to grow on the tree between them. As soon as the Demice stepped under it, it was pelted with oversized acorns and knocked into the river, which swept it away.

“We’re still alive…” Pistachio gasped, as though he couldn’t believe it, before given a whoop of glee. “Yahoo! We’re alive!”

“Quiet!” Clair tried to shush him. “Other monsters could hear you!”

“Oh, right… sorry…” The two of them set off across the bridge. “So, anyway, Clair, where should we go now?”

“I’m not exactly sure… do you have any idea where the others are?” She asked.

“I can smell Arancia somewhere towards the west,” He told her. “Do you think we should go find her?”

“Exactly.” And with a goal in mind, Clair and Pistachio took their first steps of adventure.

* * *

  
  


Eventually, the two of them had to take a break from walking. “Do you think we should check in with our spirits?” Clair asked. “It would probably be helpful if they knew what was happening. They could tell another summoner, and there we go.”

Pistachio blinked. “Isn’t Latte the only other Early summoner that we know about?”

“So the plan has flaws. Wood Magic’s fairly common, just about everyone knows a Sticky summoner or two.”

“R-right… Twiggy!” He Called, and the spirit answered as always.

“You wanted me, Pistachio?” He asked. “You’ve never Called me in the Light Realm before!”

“It’s not like we wanted to end up here,” Clair sighed, twisting the magic that would summon Aeon. When the Early appeared, he glanced around for a few moments before sighing.

“I’m not sure why I expected anything else… At least you found someone. Now, having wandered off from your own world, what are you going to do?”

“We’re going to look for Arancia!” Pistachio chimed in. “She’s west of here, so that’s where we’re going!”

“At least you have a plan this time. And sensible friends.” Clair was pretty sure Aeon had never forgiven her for what happened in Nutley. Fair enough, given that he lived there.

“She’s not that bad,” Twiggy stated. “At least she has self-confidence. My summoner, on the other hand…” It was then that Clair and Pistachio remembered why they didn’t summon their spirits together very often. They were notorious gossips.

“I’m starting to think this was a bad idea…” Pistachio sighed.

“I’m starting to agree with you…” At least they wouldn’t be bored while they were rested. “So, Aeon, have you gotten any news from Latte?”

“Oh, yes. He Called me a little over an hour ago, but was defeated in battle. They said something about making him into an oven?”

There wasn’t really a good way to handle that revelation. So Clair settled for saying, “If we can find him, we’re never letting him live this one down, right?”

“I would hope not!” Twiggy laughed. “I know he’s your friend and this is bad, but… he just has no luck, doesn’t he?”

Clair glanced to the side. “We should probably go and find Arancia now. It’ll be more interesting than just kicking Poptails around, at least.” Really, she’d been doing that since she was little. Poptails made great test subjects due to how common they were, and their natural weakness meant they could be beaten without any magic use.

Not that it was recommended. Any monster was dangerous if not taken seriously enough. And forests like these were full of monsters.

She was sure she’d feel better once the group was a little larger, but for now the most they could do was dismiss their spirits until they were needed and start walking again.

They were sure to make progress eventually.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pistachio's battle style involves throwing nuts at things. The real question is how he makes it viable, with the answer being 'awareness of his surroundings'. If there's an easier place to get nuts from, he will use it.  
> By the end of this story, everyone that can should have seven spirits. That doesn't mean said spirits are gained over the Vacation part, of course. I like my frogs too much to give them up. But Clair will, of course, due to not actually having the length of the timeskip to search.  
> That's a long way off, though.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The search for Arancia goes well at first, but then they go into the cave, and things rapidly turn pear-shaped.  
> Also, they have a Warp Point now, but that doesn't really matter.

“Wakey Tails? Here?” Pistachio took one of the squirming objects from Clair. “Where did you find them?”

“I was chasing a frog up on that cliff. There were some bombs there, too, but I’m not touching them.” She pulled out a bag of gummies. “Well, it’s about lunchtime, so…”

The two of them had made good time traversing the Light Realm, assisted by the fact that the most dangerous monsters around were Poptails. A few of them sniffed around the area that the two students had set up to eat, but for the most part knew to leave them alone.

For the most part, anyway. But when they didn’t, a quick combat spell was all they needed to chase them away. Really, if the circumstances had been any different, Clair would have considered this a nice picnic.

Pistachio gulped down his gummies as quickly as he could. Of course he did- he likely hadn’t had time for breakfast. Let alone access to actual food supplies, simple as they might be.

“Ah, much better! Did you live like this before, Clair?”

“For roughly a year and a half, yes,” She replied. “It got tedious after a while, but roads like this are nice. They barely have any monsters on them, so you don’t have to worry about staying hidden.” She slurped down a worm- the last one they had. “We should probably get moving soon, though. Can’t let you lose Arancia’s trail.”

She didn’t need to eat as much. She didn’t rely as much on magic.

* * *

  
  


Pistachio led Clair to what seemed to be a tunnel in the roots of a tree. “She’s inside here!” Clair nodded, but before she could go in, her eyes caught on an odd blue hat.

“Oh, it’s Pizza!” she grinned. While he wouldn’t be able to help with going between worlds, the odd little creature seemed to be everywhere and nowhere at once. Good for information, and if you were on the same realm and planet as one of his Warp Points, you could travel there anytime.

“He takes pinecones, right?” Pistachio asked.

“Yeah, you generally want to have at least five of them with you at a time because of that, no matter what type of magic you use,” She confirmed. She had no clue what he used those pinecones for, but it was a very useful service, even if she’d never felt the need to use it before.

She tapped the hat three times, the signal for someone who wished an audience with Pizza the Warp Master. Nobody knew if he actually possessed Warp Magic or not, though it would explain quite a lot if he did.

The hat quivered once, twice, and then leaped up, attached to a being that certainly hadn’t been there five seconds ago.

“Why, hello there!” He greeted them. “I am the great Warp Master, Pizza! From your faces, you don’t seem to have used my services before.” That was another odd thing about him. The ability to identify anyone who had been registered to use a Warp Point before, no matter where it was. The term ‘best customer service in the solar system’ didn’t even begin to cover it.

“No, we haven’t. We wish to rectify that,” Clair stated. “We are new to this realm, and would like the ability to retreat to here if we meet a powerful foe.”

She wasn’t worried about it being affordable. Anyone with a Warp Point could bring others with them when they warped, and those people could register that Warp Point upon arrival.

It was said that, due to this, Pizza had the largest stockpile of pinecones in the world. Somehow, Clair didn’t doubt that.

* * *

  
  


After registering the Warp Point, the duo decided to enter the tunnel. It was much larger inside than the small entrance in the forest would have suggested, opening into near complete darkness only held off by a trail of torches, each one barely within sight of the one before it.

“Hehehe… over here…” A dark shape in the shadows called. A female voice.

“Arancia?” Pistachio asked. “But… there’s something strange.”

Clair felt it, too. The cave was dark, but Arancia’s presence was darker still. An odd weight to her, that the girl she knew could never have exerted.

“Come follow me,” The being shaped like Arancia repeated, more of a command this time, before vanishing into the depths of the cave.

“So, you realize that’s probably not Arancia, right?” Clair checked, just to be sure.

“But who else could it be?”

“I don’t know. It’s not like we have a complete list of which species are shapeshifters or not,” She pointed out. “But Arancia is not that creepy.”

“Well said,” A voice rang out through the dark. Or rather, it was the dark, as the shape of a familiar Inky coalesced out of the shadows. Night. Ganache’s friend.

Clair wasn’t all that comfortable with the spirits of darkness, in all honesty, but she didn’t mind him too much, as they’d had time to get used to each other. “Night, what are you doing here? Where’s Ganache?”

“Well, I do happen to live here,” The spirit pointed out. “Ganache is deeper in the cave, in the direction that the Enigma pretending to be your friend has gone. I will guide you to him, you will likely need each other’s powers to survive.”

“That would be nice, thank you.” Caves were known to be the homes of the nocturnal Flighties and Rock Jams, which while hardly dangerous on their own, were not good opponents to disturb on their home turf. Unless, of course accompanied by one of the formidable spirits of darkness.

Not that following said spirit was easy in the slightest. Night blended in far too well with the walls of the cave, and was naturally driven to avoid the torchlight which Clair so craved. But they managed, and so advanced into the depths of the cave, where they encountered the monster that had taken Arancia’s shape.

“You’ve managed to slip away from the Enigma’s grap… heeheehee…” The Enigma giggled. From Arancia’s voice, that just sounded wrong.

“You have a weird look in your eyes…” Pistachio pointed out. Night faded back into the shadows and Clair began to draw on her magic, so that she could conjure more quickly once the illusion was properly revealed.

“Outside in the light, you may be able to run away from an Enigma…” Even without being able to see the creature’s face, Clair could picture the twisted grin. “But to come into the dark here… spirits can choose their friends, but all magicians are their masters. You must be fairly confident in yourselves, to knowingly bring a darkness spirit here! Or perhaps… you do not know of the Enigma’s terrifying magical powers.”

“We know about the Warp Magic,” Clair stated. “And… it’s really hard to be scared of the dark when that’s the skill your teacher is most proud of.” One would think that chasing down seven Holies would be the greatest accomplishment to boast of, but true mastery of the powers of darkness was sufficiently interesting to qualify.

“Really? So you would be open to an Enigma’s power?”

“I never said that.” She wasn’t scared of the dark. Not really. It was a fear of the darkness being turned against her. Of being uncontrollable. Some part of her very soul rejected that power, and she listened to it.

“Clair! Pistachio!” Footsteps, and Kirche finally appeared at the edge of her vision, followed by the real Arancia.

“Hah… Someone’s come to interrupt us… so much for that fusion idea…” The Enigma muttered.

“Please tell me I don’t actually act like that,” Arancia groaned. “Pistachio, do you think I act like that?”

“Not… really?” Pistachio paused, as if thinking. Clair sighed.

“No, you don’t actually act like that. It’s not a very good imitation.”

“If that’s what you think…” The disguise shimmered, twisted, and vanished. “The dark one got away from me earlier, but no matter. Enjoy a load of this. I, Volcanera, will deal with you myself!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Volcanera. Cunning enough to lead the kids into a trap... but not very good at providing believable bait. Hence how Ganache saw it coming and left not five minutes earlier.  
> Pizza, meanwhile... Pizza's fun. There's a lot you can do with someone who's everywhere at once. And he brings up a lot of questions, such as what he does with all those pinecones and sugarstars. There has to be a reason, right?


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clair is pretty sure, at this point, that escaping the Enigma is the least of their problems. Which says a lot about the kind of problems that they have, what with Kirche being taken and all.  
> Hopefully, Oturan Village will provide them with a safe place to recuperate. Maybe.  
> ...They're doomed.

Clair quickly thought back to all her lessons about dark cave fighting. Which wasn’t much. Everyone was always telling her not to do it, and the most she had in comparison was the little Poptail in the haunted cave, which wasn’t exactly the most useable experience for the situation.

She decided to start by setting up her throwing conjuration, which was immobile but decent at aiming, and took shelter behind it, quickly ushering Pistachio to follow.

“Can you use any nuts here?” She asked. Pistachio shook his head.

“I can’t see clearly enough. Maybe if Kirche could make some more fire or something…”

“Got it. Hey, Kirche! Roast it!”

“What do you think I’m trying to do!?” Okay, that was a fair point. “Arancia, do something!”

“I make noise! We’re in a cave!” Arancia snapped. “Actually… that makes it better, doesn’t it? I’ve got it!” Immediately, the air was filled with a horrific cacophony that made Clair feel just a bit nauseous.

“Arancia…” Pistachio groaned. “Friendly fire…”

“R-right. I did something, though!” The Enigma was certainly off-balance after that little… performance… something which Clair and Kirche were quick to follow up on, Pistachio doing the same once there was enough fire to properly see by.

Volcanera stepped back, claws slipping on a ledge. “My body feels sluggish!” The Enigma hissed. “It must be the Light Realm! I can’t unleash my full power here!”

With that, the monster hauled itself back up, eyes frantically darting from one student to another. “I guess I’ll just have to take you on one at a time!”

Clair, Pistachio, and Arancia moved away from Volcanera’s claws as quickly as they could. Kirche wasn’t so lucky. “No! What the-!?”

“Kirche!”

The Enigma’s grip didn’t weaken at all as it laughed. “That’s right, I’m going to fuse! Once we’ve fused… we won’t lose to anybody!” A flare of Warp Magic, and both Kirche and Vocanera vanished without a trace.

“This is bad, this is bad, this is bad….”

“Pistachio. Breathe,” Clair ordered, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“I’m sure he’ll be fine!” Arancia agreed. “You know he’d never lose to the likes of them! Now, come on! I think there’s a village on the other side of this cave!”

A village. A place to rest, and to recover from their ordeal. “That sounds nice. Let’s go there, then.”

And so they did.

* * *

  
  


“I’ve been meeting a lot of unfamiliar faces today,” An odd voice hummed. The trio looked in the direction of the speaker.

“Is that a puppet?” Pistachio asked. Clair sighed.

“I’d hope you know what a puppet looks like, given that we go to class with one.”

“Up ahead is Oturan Village,” Arancia commented, glancing at the map. “It’s the puppet’s village, so this must be somebody from there. We’re getting close!”

The puppet walked up to them. “Hello. I saw someone in the village earlier with had a black hood on. Are you friends with that person?”

“That’s not very descriptive…” Arancia sighed. Clair shook her head.

“It’s probably Ganache. Who else do we know with a black hood that’s in the area? Yes, he is a friend of ours.”

“That might be pushing it a bit…” Pistachio muttered.

“If he’s here, do you think there are others?” Arancia suggested. “Excuse me, have you seen anyone else around our age?”

“Hmm…. no, I can’t say I have. But the merchants say that a number of kids have shown up around Green Tea Village.”

“Green Tea Village?” Pistachio asked.

“That’s the village of the Envoys of Love, right?” Clair checked, peering over Arancia’s shoulder to look at the map. “Wetsomas Ruins… doesn’t sound like a place I’d want to be at night. Let’s just focus on finding Ganache for now, okay?”

And so they were agreed.

* * *

  
  


When the trio arrived in Oturan Village, the first thing Clair noticed was how on-edge everyone seemed to be. Pulling from her memories of time on the road, the first thing she did was flag down a travelling putty.

“Excuse me, but could you tell us why everyone seems to be so tense right now?”

“Well, it’s quite terrible, you see. Apparently, five puppets have been recently killed, and from what they say, it’s only going to continue!”

“Just puppets?” Arancia asked. “No humans, or anything?”

“No, but who knows how long it will last? I want to go to Green Tea Village as soon as possible, but the village chief isn’t granting me permission to enter the ruins!”

“When people in town are being murdered?”

“Pistachio, calm down. We’ll be just fine. Safety in numbers, yeah?”

“Clair, this is serious!”

“So am I. Panicking over something as simple as this isn’t going to help us. Do you know where the village chief currently is?” She asked, turning back to the putty.

“Oh, it’s over that way.”

“I see. Thank you! Come on, we should go.” Clair wasn’t entirely sure when she had started making decisions for her classmates, but decided to go along with it for as long as was viable.

Of course, it seemed that they weren’t the only ones interested in visiting the village chief. “H-hey, isn’t that…?” Pistachio started. Arancia nodded.

“Yeah, looks like Ganache. Hey, Ganache!” The Dark Mage turned around in surprise.

“...Arancia? And Pistachio and Clair too… you escaped from the Enigma?”

Clair shrugged. “We did. Kirche didn’t. We think he’s in trouble but… good luck finding him.”

“Don’t be so nonchalant about it!” Arancia scolded. “He might have to fuse with them!”

“I don’t think we have to worry about that,” Ganache pointed out. “If they could fuse on the spot, they would have taken us all at the beach. But they brought us here… I don’t think it’s possible for them to fuse without the other party’s consent.”

“So they’re just going to slowly torment us until we give in,” Arancia finished. “Kirche… I wonder if he’s okay…”

“I wouldn’t worry about it. Have you seen his family?”

“Much as I hate to agree with Pistachio, it’s probably a good thing that it was him who was captured. He’ll be just fine.” The conversation couldn’t continue, as there was a scream from the direction that Clair and the others had come from. Clair nudged Arancia.

“Hey, can you hear what’s going on?”

“It’s the travelling putty we met earlier… something about voices coming from underground?”

“Well, that sounds like as good a way to find Kirche as any,” Ganache commented.

“But that’s scary…” Arancia and Pistachio complained. Clair sighed.

They had a long way to go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... I'm not the only one who thinks that equipment and stickers are handed out like candy in this game, right? You know you have too much stuff when you're temporarily given a party member and don't even poach his equipment.  
> Making Clair a proper character requires the taking of lines from other characters. Because the game is dialogue-heavy as it is and that makes adjustments to characterization... difficult, to say the least.


End file.
